LEAD: Djokovic dominates against injured Mahut in Melbourne

By Bill Scott Jan 21, 2012, 5:06 GMT

Melbourne - Holder Novak Djokovic won his 29th match from his last 30 at Grand Slams on Saturday as the top seed strolled into the second week of the Australian Open 6-, 6-1, 6-1 against hampered opponent Nicolas Mahut.

The Frenchman took the loss on his 30th birthday, with Djokovic never threatened by a heavily taped opponent.

After two injury retirements in women's matches in less than 24 hours, Mahut stuck it out until the end. 'Credit to him, I saw some taping on knee and leg, he was not moving well,' Djokovic said.

'But Nicolas didn't want to retire, he stayed in all the way. I just hope he can celebrate his birthday tonight.'

The Serb who dominated last season lost only one match at a major in 0211, going down in a dramatic French Open semi-final to Roger Federer.

2008 finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga continued a comfortable progression through the draw as he put out Frederico Gil of Portugal 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.

The Frenchman said his tennis seems to be following a particular trend. 'Every year and every tournament it's a bit same story for me - I play better and better every match.

'Today I played well and didn't spend a lot of time on court, that's good for the rest of the tournament. I'm really confident.'

In the women's draw, Grand Slam champions Petra Kvitova and Maria Sharapova wasted little effort as the seeded pair blasted into spots in the fourth round on a sold-out Saturday, losing just four games between them.

It was all one-way traffic for current Wimbledon holder Kvitova as the Czech crushed Maria Kirilenko, 6-1, 1-0, with her injured Russian opponent retiring after just 38 minutes with a thigh strain.

As Kirilenko took treatment on her problem prior to retiring, Kvitova buried her head in her towel for some extra concentration in the third-round contest which ensured her of a place in the tournament's second week.

'I just told myself to play the same way as before and go for the balls and don't make many mistakes and just be focused,' said the Czech second seed. 'Sometimes the timeout is very tough for us. When you are playing really well and then you have five minutes off, sometimes it's tough to get back and play as before.'

Sharapova, the fourth seed who won Wimbledon in 2004 and Australia four years later, was unyielding as she put out German Angelique Kerber 6-1, 6-2.

US-based Russian Sharapova has lost just five game in her three matches this week but she was cautious against an unknown opponent.

'I never faced her before, but knew she's been on the big stage. Last Grand Slam she did pretty well. She's beaten good players. In the first set I didn't give her a chance to do what she likes. 'In the second set, it became a bit more of a battle. But I felt like I stepped it up when I had to here and there.'

Sharapova was on and off court in just under 90 minutes after fighting through a second set lasting nearly one hour.

The treble Grand Slam champion Russian struck 34 winners and broke Kerber on six of nine chances and will next play either German 14th seed Sabine Lisicki or Svetlana Kuznetsova.

China's Zheng Jie upset French ninth seed Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-3 while former number one Ana Ivanovic defeated American Vania King 6-3, 6-4.

Vera Zvonareva, losing Grand Slam finalist twice in 2010, was beaten by Russia's Ekaterina Makarova 7-6 (9-7), 6-1. Italy's number 48 Sara Errani will play the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career after staging a comeback over Romanian Sorana Cirstea 6-7 (6-8), 6-0, 6-2.